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I yanked hard on Opal&039;s ar concrete, then I rolled on top of her It was pure instinct, my body wouldn&039;t stop a bullet now, and God knows there were plenty of the They cracked and thundered all around us, and I pressed ainst Opal&039;s shoulder and prayed for it to be over It took , and I&039;d moaned a similar prayer then when I&039;d crouched in a ditch while a bunch of strangers in a one on and on and on and there&039;d been an unending supply of it, and that&039;s as the worst: the sound ha into ot the insane thought that maybe if they actually shot me and saw the blood, they&039;d finally stop the daain, only without the ditch We had no cover at all and didn&039;t dare try for any I glanced up and saw the slow passage of the Packard as it swept regally by, though it ood clip My terror turned it into a snail&039;s crawl

Calloway and the others were also caught up in the crawl as they ducked and tuuns out returned fire, but I couldn&039;t hear the s roar of a full automatic

It tore up chunks of pavehtenedbut shut the hell up

And when I was ready to start yelling just to try drowning out the bedlaone

If there was silence, I couldn&039;t appreciate it My ears felt stuffed, like I had a cold, and see like a phone on the fritz Down the street the Packard&039;s red taillights vanished around the corner It could come back, no reason why it shouldn&039;t

Calloway&039;s men were no match for it, that was for damned sure

I checked on the, two rushed past trying to catch up with the car, firing as they ran The others were out of sight

Calloas just in front ofto stand; he yelled at the pursuers to co like he was behind a brick wall I could hear hi too loud; it was all reaction

She didn&039;t answer right away I looked down, trying to read her pinched face Her glasses were half off I straightened theht shut and she was half-curled on her side I told her it was over and tried to coax her up, but she wouldn&039;t move

"Hey, honey, you okay?"

All she did was groan

Bloodsoddammit Couldn&039;t tell where she&039;d been hit, her coat was dark

"Calloway!"

He turned, looked down, and took it all in, then started cussing

"Call an ambulance, you bastard!"

"Screw it!" he yelled back, and stalked over to his fallento check him out; at twenty feet I could tell he was dead One of the others had caught a slug in the leg, and was li back, supported by a luckier friend

Opal whimpered

" Calloway!"

He twitched as if froun in hand Three quick steps and he brought it level with my eyes, inches away The fast movement surprised me, but the real shock was his expression

I&039;d heard about blind rage, knew all about it fro it myself, but this was the first time I&039;d actually seen what it did to anyone His face was distorted, teeth bared, eyes wide and blank, all the cords and veins showed through his ht up the barrel of his 45, the hole in that yawningwas aze frohtless eyes and knehat birds knohen they freeze just as the snake takes theer

My heart jumped into my throat, a cold ball made of iron and ice that ain No ti

Used-up round in the chamber

He tried three oing to work, then I thought he&039;d throw the revolver at me One of his men bellowed at hirees, but very fast Oneback at his anized, and in between he visibly hauled in his fury hand over hand to shut it away for later It had to be for later Aa lot of it stored up inside

Then Opal ainaround and take this kid to a hospital"

"I&039;ll take you both to hell!"

"She&039;s no good to you dead!"

Baker put in his two cents&039; worth "We gotta scram, Lieutenant We can&039;t explain this"

Calloway said "shit" a few ti "Okay, we&039;ll scra it over here You and you are with us" He pointed at the cops who&039;d tried chasing the Packard

Baker gestured at the dead and wounded "What about-"

"They stay" He looked at the woundedto cover for us Here&039;s the story: You heard soht have holed up here, so the three of you got aet inside, the shooting started Bla else out, understand? The rest of us weren&039;t here"

The men wearily nodded One looked down at the dead cop on the sidewalk

"Lieutenant"

"I know, but it&039;s done You cover for us and you&039;re covering for hiive him an &039;in the line of duty&039; finish Make hiot that?"

"Yeah" They nodded again

"Now get in and fix it with the ood for hiether and just follow noret extra this week; botch it, and we&039;re all in the can Go"

They hobbled off

He turned to , Godda?"

He didn&039;t bother to answer, just came close and knelt He pulled Opal&039;s coat open

The white blouse underneath was stained with bright, fresh red He undid the buttons and peeled back the right half There was a hole just under her collarbone, seepingrate The blood made steam in the cold air He pulled out a folded handkerchief and pressed it against the wound, then rose and nodded at his two reoing?"

"Sullivan&039;s"

Baker got the Caddie started and swerved it in against the curb Calloway cliet Opal in the back I told thes easier, but no one listened Wedged between the, but coely heavy I pulled her coat close around her, hoping to keep her warm, and kept up the pressure on the sodden handkerchief

"Hey, Opal, come on, sweetheart, wake up"

Shesound God, she was pale

"Hospital, Calloway," I said as Baker hit the gears and pulled into the street

Calloway looked at me over the seat Didn&039;t say a word

" Hospital" I was focused on hiht

He jerked his chin at theto death, you-"

The cop on ht cracked me across the forehead with the side of his revolver

Not full force, but enough to hurt, to get my attention It made a white flash under my eyelids, and my head snapped back over&039; the top of the seat I blinked at the padded cloth of the ceiling for a few seconds before straightening

"Quiet," the cop said, pointing with one finger like a parent to an especially backward child

I glared at hionna stop just because-"

His partner got hts More pain No vanishing for me, it wasn&039;t to that point yet, but would be the next ti It would throw these two for daet in the front seat, take out Calloway, and get Baker to no, bad idea

He was going over the limit just now Any surprises at this speed could be fatal I&039;d have to wait until we got to a stop signal

Checked Opal Her lids cracked open

"Hey, sweetheart, come on and talk to me" No hits from my friends for this They only took offense if I tried speaking to them "Opal?"

She winced and shifted in ht, we&039;re getting help" I looked at Calloway for some crumb of confirmation, but saw only the back of his head

"It hurts," said Opal

"I know it does, honey Just hold on for a little bit"

"My shoulder burns it hurts"

" Calloway-"

The guy on un to ain You can shut up on your own, or I can do it for you" The look on his face told

It wouldn&039;t do Opal any good if they shot me I&039;d just disappear, and whatever happened next would be out of my control until I finally recovered Best not to push them or pull any supernatural surprises until an opportunity occurred If only they&039;d put the inside light on; I&039;d whammy them so fast they wouldn&039;t knohat hit theally through stop signals Never a traffic cop around when you needed one, not that getting pulled over would change things All Calloway and the others had to do was show their badges and et aith nearly anything He must have been one hell of an asset for Kyler; noas Sullivan&039;s etting a good idea froh Before, with Kyler, Calloway&039;s attitude was that of any worker for his boss, respectful, but ier, but it was of the kind that meant underneath he was really afraid

The tension in the confined space was sht; people always have to talk On the other hand, one of their own had been killed right in front of the was a tough deal to approach no matter what direction you took No wonder they wanted ave a tinker&039;s dah Opal was ain, but she&039;d only shake her head andAll I could do was keep the pressure up on the wound My right ar I noticed a etness there Blood, of course It had soaked down from her shoulder The whole car reeked of it

Had to take a risk I keptto death from this It&039;s no flesh wound It&039;s serious She needs help"

He looked over the seat again, sending a silent signal to hisher to help, pretty boy"

"She needs a hospital Get us to one I&039;ll give your boss anything he wants on the Pacos, I help hiirl has to coet help, I proht wore a face that was just waiting forso he could shoot

The signals thinned out, as did the traffic, and ere on a long dark stretch of road that was al in this direction, and stores and gas stations were ainst eone bust because of the crash, though The re ones were most certainly tied to the mobs and had another, hidden business on the side, like the dance studio You could tell which ones, too, they just had that look

I recognized the route We were going to Kyler&039;s road-house Unlike Angela, perhaps Sullivan felt he had no need to keep his head down Or rand hidden in the baseram was still folded away in my little notebook, safe for the uns earlier

A few minutes more and Baker hauled the wheel around, turned into a discreet unpaved drive, then we pulled into a graveled parking lot It served a big joint, two sprawling stories of brown brick hite tri all the way around the front and sides In the summer tables and chairs would be there for the patrons to enjoy their drinks and food while counting the stars No one was out now

The place was closed tight, all the s dark, the outer doors shut, the lot itself eht, when everything was ju like New Year&039;s Eve

We drove around to the back Three cars were parked close by the delivery entry

A single cold blue light glowed over the h All the s on this side ebbed over with metal lattices If anyone wanted to break in, it would have to be elsewhere on the building

Baker braked and cut thethe trip; I tried to listen and pick up Opal&039;s heartbeat, but the others et out and I did so, trying my best not to buain, holding weakly to me with her free hand I carried her up half a dozen wood steps to a loading platfor in the back door

A good-sized kitchen I had a feeling of deja vu, but only for a ht, warmth, and coht hard-lookingcom under their arht shone at the far end over one of the stoves, but it looked to be enough for y; Baker, alert and ready for trouble, was right behind roup eyed the other warily

A slight-figured, greasy-haired lasses stepped forward He wore a silk shirt, suspenders, and a neatly done up bow tie He looked me and Opal over with mild interest, then turned to Calloway

"What happened?"

I caught a whiff of sweaty fear fro

Opal didn&039;t have time for this

I pushed forward past all the men, past Calloway "Are you Sean Sullivan?"

He quirked his lip and lifted his chin "I&039;m Maxwell, Mr Sullivan&039;s secretary"

"Well this is his bookkeeper She&039;s been shot and needs a doctor"

"You&039;re Fle? Calloway told et so"

Cold eyes on Calloway now Leisurely "How did this happen?"

He shifted once on his feet, visibly uncoave a succinct report of the basics "I think it was Paco&039;s people"

"Hitting their own place?" Maxwell shook his head, amused "Why would they do that?"

I bulled closer, this time to make eye contact with hiirl Now Nothing&039;s more important than that"

He rocked on his heels

A couple of his boys stepped towardon un on ain like I&039;d slapped him, then recovered his balance He cah, Lieutenant He&039;s perfectly right We reallylady"

Calloway shot me a murderous look "What did you do to-"

"Later," snapped Maxwell, suddenly all bustle and business "Put her on that table One of you find a pot, get some water heated Find some towels"

The whole troop stood stunned for a ain, and that did the trick Finally They scattered to obey his orders

I eased Opal onto a big, white-painted preparation table She was very heavy now; she&039;d passed out

I focused on Baker, held up my cuffed wrist "Key Use it"

He started to reach for it, but Calloway put a hand out to stop hi?"

Baker shook out of it, and couldn&039;t colared at er until Maxwell stepped in

"Yes, unlock those things," he said

Baker looked first at Calloway, but got the nod from Maxwell He unlocked the cuffs Opal&039;s skin was marked red where the metal had bit, but that was the least of her worries I tried to be gentle as I wrestled the coat off her; the wet, folded handkerchief dropped away to the floor, spattering blood as it landed

Her coat had soaked up a lot of it, but rabbed one and pressed it against the hole At least it wasn&039;t pulsing, otherwise she&039;d be dead by now

Maxwell told one of his et so hot tap water into a big pot, the rest, including Calloway, just stood about and stared hard atwhat I&039;d done to put the corncob up Maxwell&039;s ass Let &039;eht in here," I said

Sos instantly The man with the water pot put it on a as on Blue and yellow fla It was the only sound besides their breathing until I caught a double set of footsteps co

Maxwell&039;s errand runner cahtly olderhis belly, and had a sizable shiner for around his left eye

What the hell?

It was Doc

They rabbed hie by his faltering walk I didn&039;t think he was in shape to treat himself, much less another, but any port in a storm

"Doctor, your services are required," said Maxwell, gesturing hiht Took in ht you were-"

"Can it," I snapped "You were drunk and made a mistake"

He scowled "Wouldn&039;t be the first tiot off the yacht alive Best to change the subject

I pointed at Opal He squinted again, rubbed his good eye, and came closer

"Sweet Jesus, what&039;d you do to her?"

"She caught a forty-five She&039;s bleeding bad"

"No shit" He tsked over her

"You sober enough to work?"

"Yes, unfortunately I do better drunk Now get outtathe hot water, and soaped up his hands They were tre

I turned to Maxwell "Get hiot the shakes"

Calloway stepped forward "Listen, you punk-"

But that was as far as Maxwell let hiet "Another time, Lieutenant"

A quiet order from him sent a man off to play waiter The rest stared at Maxwell, astonished Calloway stared at me, still murderous He didn&039;t know exactly as up, what I&039;d done, but he didn&039;t like it I&039;d let too much show, but didn&039;t care

"Clear out, the rest of you," said Maxwell "Give the man some room Lieutenant, please coestured inhere," I said, ready to give a push where it was needed

"He&039;ll be fine," answered Maxwell in a gratifyingly normal tone "I&039;m sure his concern for Miss Opal will be sufficient to keep hi off, and there will be a , Mr Sullivan is not very patient"

The mention of Sullivan&039;s naun and went quietly with the rest

"My, but don&039;t you have a ith people," said Doc, witnessing their exodus out of the corner of his eye as he scrubbed We were alone except for one uard I could take care of hih and bolt now if I wanted, but didn&039;t see e to it at the etting her to a hospital?"

"Fine with me, but not yet She&039;s likely in too tender a condition for et a look-see first"

"Got your bag?"

"Nope Just have to make do hat&039;s on hand Not h, the tools for cuttin&039; are just a sight bigger"

Another man came back with a couple of bottles of booze Doc ordered a triple whiskey, neat I poured it out, then had to hold the glass so he could keep his hands clean while he drank He took in a sizable jolt, squeezed his eyes shut in reaction, and shook his head

"Hoo now, but ain&039;t that the cheap stuff? Thought they&039;da drunk up all the deer piss left over from before Repeal Okay, put the rest here" He held his hands out frolassful over the theut getswith the little gal"

I took away the top towel and pulled open Opal&039;s stained blouse He studied the daed

Still bleeding

"Huh She got lucky Missed her lung Might have soments Have to clean her up soht be some fabric inside froetting her to a hospital?" I asked

"Not just yet Bleeding&039;s not too bad now, but she don&039;t need anydrawers and let ot to ith"

Me and the other guy did so while the third watched Doc picked out what he wanted and had us du water Frolad Opal was out cold Just looking at the things o all queasy

"Could use sos, blankets, a pillow"

I turned to the man Pushed He went off to search

Doc hadn&039;t ranny used to do what you do,"

hehis lips "But then she was older&039;n God an&039; a lot more strict, so folks did what she told just to avoid her fussing at &039;em But somethin&039;s different about you Ain&039;t natural for a punk kid like yourself to get those kind of men to tuck in their tails so easy"

"No need for you to worry about it"

"Maybe not, but you just keep doing what you&039;re doing and et out of this alive &039;Less you&039;re on their side" He gave me a narrow look

"I&039; out of this alive They take you as a hostage?"

"S&039;pose they did, for all the good it&039;ll do &039;eal, she won&039;t lose any sleep if so as she keeps her daddy&039;s organization solid and running"

"She&039;s crazy"

"Pragmatic&039;s the word, un to ive an inch to Sullivan When the set even, then give et out of here with Opal, no one has to die"

"Suits et a lot more drinkin&039; time in before I check out"

The man came back, arms full with a white bundle "Don&039;t have no blankets here, just tablecloths"

"Bring &039;em over," I said I tucked the drained and helpless now that I was out of things to do for her

"You&039;re wanted upstairs," the man told me as I went to the sink to wash the blood from my hands It was all over my coat, especially the sleeve

"Doc?"

He waved me off "Go on I don&039;t need someone breathin&039; downhere"